While filming Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi sequel Dune, the Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet claimed Tom Cruise’s action Top Gun: Maverick was “hugely inspiring.”
During a GQ cover story, Chalamet claimed that he watched Cruise’s long-awaited sequel eight times while working on his own franchise sequel. Chalamet even bought out a cinema theatre in Budapest and treated the entire Dune cast and crew to a screening of Top Gun: Maverick.
“Top Gun was just hugely inspiring to me last summer when we were making Dune,” Chalamet said. “Some of the crew were kind of scoffing at going, but I just thought it was one of the greatest films I’ve ever seen.”
After the first Dune film, Chalamet credited Tom Cruise with proposing stunt trainers such as motorcycle and helicopter coaches.
“After I met Tom Cruise, right after finishing the first Dune, he sent me the most wonderfully inspiring email,” Chalamet said. “He basically said, in Old Hollywood, you would be getting dance training and fight training, and nobody is going to hold you to that standard today. So it’s up to you. The email was really like a war cry.”
Villeneuve, director of Dune, mentioned that Chalamet’s commitment to stunts was further enhanced for Part Two, possibly influenced by Cruise’s suggestions.
